Well my pulley upgrade is pending now and am looking at other changes in the engine that addd some cool factor and may have some performance benefit.

I get the sense that the Pilo Pack, plug wires adnd plugs themselves are a bit of a black box. Some think they make a big difference, some think it is bunk. Sounds a lot like the speaker wire debates in the audiophile community.

Anyway, what is the real world experience with this stuff? I was looking at the outmotoring.com ignition upgrade pack for $170. But on WMS the Nology's alone are almost that much!! What about plugs? Are the Denso's that much greater than the NGK's??

What do you all think???

Thanks,
Joel

 

good question. however, I think it's one of those things. If you dropped the cash on it, you got a vested interest to like it. same for the retailers.

all ye who bought wired and think it was a waste-o-moola--> speak up.

 

I added Denso IK22s to my car when I got my 15% pulley. Reason being is with the smaller pulley the car will create a hotter spark and so the the IK22s lower the temps. Or so this is how I understand what Randy Webb explained to me. I got a set of red kingsborne wires because they looked hot and the old wires were out to do the plugs anyways . I am considering doing the coil with a MSD coil but more for looks then performance. I don't have any problems with my car's ignition at this point so maybe I did i did the wires for bling

 

I got the Screamin Demon Coil...Live Wires, and JCW plugs ( 1 step colder ) .......I noticed my idle and revs were very smooth after doing all this and im sure it helped out with the added boost......The only thing that killed me was buying the plugs which i can only find at my dealer ( at the time ) which were about $35ea....the coil is $80...wires $90...( retail ) ....I was happy being i paid way less than that with my account so it wasnt to to bad.


Any ignition over stock is an added help so nothing is gonna hurt your setup IMO. I pick the Live Wires because they showed the lowest OHM resistance ( 250 ) and have a nice jacket over them with swivel ends.

 

I purchased the SD and Kingsbourne wires to help with throttle response and at idle. I purchased the colder NGKs because of the additional heat resulting from a pulley. I do not believe the SD/Kings add any hp, but i do notice the cars ability to "bark" on command when i push the go-pedal. It is something I could do before but would bog down a bit sometimes, but it rarely happens now.

To each his own...

 

My 2005 Cooper is stock so far, but I had 8.5mm Magnecor plug wires on my 2003, and I definitely noticed a difference when I installed them - smoother idle and smoother revs.

 

I 2nd that........No more bog....it just gets up n gooooooooo's

 

on ur wires, are they the individually grounded ones?

 

Kingsborne wires, definate performance increase. I found a good deal, I was skeptical, now I feel it is worth full price.

 

I'm happy with what I have See signature:smile:

 

Im using the Ik22, Kingsbourne Wires and Screaming DEmon. I feel the car is smoother now especially during idle and also along the pull... I can pull easily without being worry. Maybe because its smoother now..I'm happy with it.

 

No....Only Nology does that from what i see........They have the lowest ohm resistance ive seen on any wire out there for the Mini.

 

PM senT!!

 

I got the IK-22s in response to a pulley party suggestion, and also added the red Kingsborne wires at the same time. The change was not huge, but it definitely seemed smoother to me. My guess is that it is all in the plugs, but replacing wires with 40K miles, even with the same kind, could very well have a small effect. Wires definitely do wear out.

 

My car runs very smooth and accelerates great so I can't complain

 

I have nology, pilo coil pack and I'm not sure which colder plugs. I did it when I was experiencing a lot of yo yo. It seemed to help but not cure. (other factors combined to cure) my car is running great and it is all part of the equation

 

they got .7 hP? i believe out of magnecore. i posted the issue elsewear

 

where did u post this?they got .7 hP? i believe out of magnecore.

 

Read the FAQ at the Magnecore website. No wires are going to create HP. However, it can Free Up HP that you engine was already making but was "restrained"

 

hmmm, i do remember seeing this a long time ago when i wuz looking into them for my early VW's (they helped w/air kooled motors but not any Hp gains) so thats why i wux askin' since it seems that lately the claims of this so called 'hp gains' are increasin' again.....

 

I quote

[size=3]"most owners of modified vehicles find that horsepower increases during a dyno test — however, in reality, performance increases because the engine's potential power was previously restrained by: ..."

http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/main.htm

:smile:
[/size]

 

I recently added the Screamin Demon, Live Wires(Blue), and Iradium plugs. One of the things I seem to notice is that when cruising on the interstate I dont have to drop a gear to make that pass. Placebo effect. Possibly. Overall the engine does seem to run smoother.

my .02......

 

I'm doing some research on ignition upgrades, and overall it seems to me that upgrading these components will increase efficiecy, but not HP. For me as a techy guy, thats like turning up the front side bus of your computer, but lowering the multiplier to keep the CPU working at the same speed... But all of the other components attatched to the bus will work better.

IT's are bad at mechanics. Mechanics are bad at IT.

I kind of deviated from the topic, so I'll steer back onto it.

People who've mentioned their installs here seem pleased, and have reported real world performance increases... And I don't mean dynos or meters... But performance as in the sense that the Mini is actually performing better than before, even in basic situations. Could be placebo... Could be just your basic bling... But I think something more is there, especially what 'drove' the ignition upgrade train in the first place.

Ignition upgrades have been around for a LONG time... If it was a hoax or simply bling, I think we'd all be a lot more aware of it, especially as long-time car community enthusiats (not me, you guys. )

That said, let me share a funny FAQ entry from the Nology Hotwires website:
That answer is probably biased... But I think there's a bit of truth in it. Regardless of authenticity, it's still funny. I'm going to rewire my house right now!

 

Batman, you funny! I want to see the write-up on that one.

I see some built in bias in this, in that some or most of the cars experiencing better feel after the changeover probably needed plugs and wires changed anyway. So, yes, you are going to feel an improvement.
Has anyone changed over from new plugs and wires? Any improvement?
I am genuinely curious. Always looking for that "little bit more".

 

Those who did get the NGK plugs, which p/n did you get? There are two part numbers floating around the forum BKR7EIX and BKR7EIX-11. Same plug but different gap. I believe the gap on the BKR7EIX-11 is .44, but I can't find the gap documented for BKR7EIX.

So now the question, if you stick with your current coil pack vs upgrading to the screamin demon won't that alter the gap on the plugs that you select?? Also, a lot of stuff on the forum about gappin' the Iridium plugs.. but I have a box of them in front of me - written on the instructions and on the packing slip it warns "DO NOT GAP IRIDIUM PLUGS, IRIDIUM PLUGS ARE PRE-GAPPED".